Excerpts from Information Society 2006 compilation volume
Although as a phrase the "Information Society" has stayed the same, it has undergone quite a few changes in terms of its contents, with shifts of emphasis from one aspect to another over time. In the 1970s, discussion about the information society put the emphasis on the themes of education, and new knowledge and learning that affect economic activity and competitiveness. However, in the 1980s, the same phenomenon was examined from a highly technical perspective. Computers invaded offices and production plants, and PCs were bought into ordinary homes.
This underscoring of technology continued throughout the 1990s at the same time as mobile phones and the Internet made their breakthrough. Finland's economy was driven by the production and foreign trade of information technology. Towards the end of the decade, interest also began to focus on the everyday use of information technology. Policies of the European Union also underlined that the information society concerns all citizens.
At the onset of the 2000s, the emphasis began to move increasingly to competence and skills. All citizens should possess information society skills. In Finland, as well as in the other Nordic countries, social impacts were incorporated into information society policies from quite early on, although the main interest initially lay with technology and economic effects.
In its summits around the information society theme the United Nations has agreed about a list of indicators against which the development of the information society should be monitored in different countries. Naturally, different countries are at different stages in this development, which puts the measures in different order of importance in national information society programmes.
iEurope 2010 is the European Commission's framework strategy defining policy outlines for the information society and audio-visual communications. Some of the measuring instruments continue to relate to the accessibility and utilisation rate of equipment and connections. However, more and more measurable impacts are being sought. The emphasis in the objectives has shifted from technologies to the promotion of a humane and socially sustainable society.
Chapter 2 Demographic development and education
Figure 2.7 New students, degrees and qualifications completed in information technology and media studies, 1997-2004, percentage of all students
Source: Statistics Finland, Education Statistics
Up to 2001, educational programmes in information technology and media studies leading to qualifications were increased continuously, but ever fewer new students have been accepted to them since then. In 2004, the number of new students in these fields stood at 14,850, accounting for 9.5 per cent of all new students, in other words, was on level with 1998. The number of new students had risen by around 4,000 from 1997. Whereas in 1997, one in five of the new students were women, approximately one in three were women in 2004.
Respectively, the number of completed qualifications in information technology and media studies was 8,418, and they accounted for 8.8 per cent of all completed educational qualifications in 2004. The field continues to be male-dominated - two out of three of the qualifications were completed by men. Yet, as late as in 1997, four out of five of the qualifiers were men.
Chapter 3 Entrepreneurial activity, production and foreign trade, and R&D in information and communication technologies
Figure 3.1 ICT sector personnel, turnover and value added 1994-2004, proportion of all enterprises
Source: Statistics Finland, Business Register (1994-1999), Structural Business Statistics (2000-2004)
The share of the ICT sector of all personnel employed by enterprises seems to have settled at around ten per cent. Its shares of turnover and value added grew faster than that of personnel, but they, too, appear now to have settled at about 15 per cent of those of all enterprises.
The share of the output of information technology goods of the total value of all industrial output has multiplied many times over since 1991. In 2004, information technology goods were produced to the total value of around EUR 15 billion. Approximately 15 per cent of the value of industrial output in Finland come from the manufacture of communications equipment.
The share of information technology products of Finland's goods exports was at its largest at the turn of the millennium when ICT, principally communications equipment and electronic components, accounted for one-quarter of all goods exports. In 2005, information technology products were exported to the value of EUR 11.7 billion, making up 22 per cent of the value of all goods exports.
Chapter 4 Finns as users of information and communications technology
Figure 4.7 Households with access to the Internet as a percentage of all households in EU countries, 2005
Source: Eurostat, New Cronos database
The homes of more than one-half of Finnish households were connected to the Internet, while the respective proportion in the whole of the EU is somewhat lower. The possibility of home use of the Internet is most widespread in Iceland where four out of five households can access the Internet from home.
Figure 4.9 Internet use by age group, 2000-2005
Source: Statistics Finland, Net Commerce Survey
Since 2000, the proportion of the population aged between 15 and 74 who had used the Internet in the preceding three months has slowly gone up from 50 to 73 per cent. Almost all in the youngest age groups were already users as far back as in 2000. In relative terms, the population over the age of 50, among whom the initial proportion was relatively low in 2000, has gained the largest number of new users.
Chapter 5 Enterprises and information technology
Figure 5.4 Homepages in enterprises, percentage of enterprises with at least 10 employees in EU countries, 2005
Source: Eurostat, New Cronos database
After Sweden and Denmark, enterprises operating in Finland and employing more than 10 persons maintain their own homepages considerably more frequently than on the average in the EU countries. On the average, fewer than two out of three enterprises in the EU countries have their own websites.
Chapter 6 Infrastructure and data security
Figure 6.6 Households with broadband connection as a percentage of all households in EU countries, 2005
Source: Eurostat, New Cronos database
Broadband transfer speeds can vary from country to country but in 2005, connections with speeds exceeding 256 kbps were, in principle, regarded as broadband.
Chapter 7 Services offered by public administration and their usage
Figure 7.4 Percentage of individuals who used Internet, in the last 3 months, for obtaining information from public authorities' websites in EU countries, 2005
Source: Eurostat, New Cronos database
The northern member states of the EU locate at the top in measurements of Internet use for information search from authorities. As a concept, the welfare state embraces the public sector's responsibility for the well-being of its citizens and the accessibility of services. The public sector is expected to provide services, also via information networks. On the other hand, citizens in the northern member states are also avid users of the Internet, so that service providers have plenty of potential online customers and sufficient motivation to develop the services they offer via the web.
Last updated 3.10.2006
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